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Bobcats Managing Member of Basketball Operations
Michael Jordan spoke to the media in a conference call on Tuesday. |
February 10, 2009
With the 2009 All-Star Break just days away and the NBA Trade Deadline drawing near, Bobcats Managing Member of Basketball Operations Michael Jordan took part in a conference call with members of the local media on Tuesday and touched on a number of topics with the Bobcats. What follows is the transcription of that call.
(On where things stand with Raymond Felton considering he is going to be a restricted free agent next season)
No decision has been made. We’ve had a lot of people call about Raymond, and our intention is to try and maintain our relationship with Raymond. I’d like to think that Raymond is going to be here and we can find a way to reach an agreement in the summer, once the season is over to try and extend him. But I’m not going to say 100 percent that it’s going to happen. If we’re trying to make this team better, we have to look at every option, and that means that as an organization, we will continue to listen. In terms of searching out and trying to move him, that’s not what our intent is as of right now. We’re looking at every aspect to try and better this team, and right now if you had to ask me about Raymond – I’m looking to sign and extend Raymond at the end of this season.
(On if he is worried that there might not be compensation for Felton if he is not re-signed in the offseason)
Is that an issue? I wouldn’t say so, because at the end of the day, if we extend Raymond, we plan on keeping Raymond. We feel like he can have an impact on our team in the future. A lot of things can happen in negotiations too. I don’t want his agent to feel like we’re backed into a corner and they can ask for anything because they feel his value and our value might be far apart. A lot of people would look at it and say, “Why even put yourself in that predicament? Why don’t you trade him before the (trade) deadline?” I’m not looking at it that way, because he brings value to our team. We haven’t really been healthy and we’re starting to play good basketball as of right now. If a deal comes up that we have to explore, then we have to explore it from a business standpoint. I think everybody understands that. I’m not going to say that if a deal comes up that would better suit the team long-term, we wouldn’t consider it. But right now, I can’t say that’s on the table. At the end of the day, if you don’t trade him, there is the possibility you don’t come to an agreement in the summer, he may sign the qualifying offer or you may lose him altogether. That’s the risk, but on the opposite side of that is, “Do I take less value for what I feel my player is? If it’s not going to benefit the organization long-term, do I back myself into a corner that way?” I wouldn’t do it that way.
(On evaluating Felton’s performance this season)
I think he’s gotten better under (Head) Coach (Larry) Brown. I think he’s getting better learning what it takes to be a point guard, as far as differentiating from a point guard to a two guard when he plays the two guard. One of the things that I asked of Coach Brown and even Sam Vincent last year, was that I needed to put our players in a scenario where we can evaluate their importance to the organization in terms of long-term value. I think that Raymond has shown that he has a long-term value for us. He’s able to play the point and play the two, which gives us versatility. I think Larry has been very helpful in terms of giving us that evaluation of players where we can go out and say, “This is not going to work for this organization, and we need to make changes for the betterment of this organization.” That’s what we have done thus far, and in some parts we have changed some of the faces of the organization, and I think it will continue as we progress as a team.
(On evaluating the deals that have been made and how much different the roster looks from Training Camp)
We came into camp not really understanding or knowing how these pieces were going to come together. One of the things that Coach Brown has provided to us from a coaching standpoint with his Hall-of-Fame attitude about coaching is that we needed to juggle these pieces a little bit. We got to a point where Sean (May) wasn’t quite up to par to play the power forward position that we expected of him, so we went out to see if we could obtain a power forward. In the mix of that we were able to get a defensive guard in (Raja) Bell, that I think gives us a different look on the offensive end and defensive end. That’s how the deal came with (Boris) Diaw, Bell and Sean Singletary, who came in as a third point guard that Larry was really looking to get so Raymond could play more at the two guard. With that said, when they got here, it was obvious that Diaw and Bell made a different impact on our team. Diaw took some of the pressure off of (Emeka) Okafor and (Gerald) Wallace could play more of the small forward spot. Bell solidified our two guard situation, along with Raymond coming behind him, and Shannon Brown was backing up both at the time.
As of late, with Adam Morrison coming off an injury last year, he seemed to have lost his confidence a little bit and didn’t seem to have the understanding of how Larry expected him to play offensively, as well as defensively. I felt like something needed to happen for Adam, as well as for the organization. That enabled us to go out and look at the possibility of trading Adam and getting another player in (Vladimir) Radmanovic. I knew Radmanovic when we were in Washington – we evaluated him as a possible third pick or moving down to the seventh pick to see if we could get him. He’s gone through the process of learning with Phil (Jackson) and being on a winning franchise. He can play small forward. He can play power forward. He can give us some versatility. He can shoot the outside jumpshot. He does make an effort on the defensive end. I felt like that could better us as an all-around basketball team.
Those were the meat of our transition with our players. Juwan Howard came as a stabling force as a veteran coming to a young team to help us in the locker room and give us some stability at the power forward position in case something happened.
It’s a vast difference in terms of what happened in Wilmington. We got into a good rhythm before Gerald got hurt and you could see all of the different pieces starting to come together. I anticipate that once everybody gets healthy, we can make a strong push as we head towards the end of the season. Are we set in stone with our roster? I can’t honestly say that because at every moment we’re trying to better the team, but at the same time not handcuff ourselves financially in our flexibility. I think this team is starting to change its look, and I think it’s starting to fit certain pieces into certain roles. Larry and I converse every day on what we can do to continue to make this team better, and this is what has evolved so far. We will continue to talk and continue to try and improve this franchise.
(On what he sees as the areas of need that need to be addressed)
I think we need to shore up our bench a little bit more. Right now, I think we have a strong six or seven players who can provide a lot of energy for us. To be a real, true playoff team, you have to have a bench that is going to support those six or seven players. Health-wise, we have to continue to stay healthy. That’s proven to be a very difficult thing as of right now, because I think our record would be a lot better if we could maintain our health – from D.J. Augustin, to Gerald Wallace and even with Sean May. I think that would be where we could continue to try and improve this season.
(On if there is a particular position he is more concerned about)
Right now, with Raja Bell being hurt, I think we have to get more of a swing guy – more of a two/three guy that can come off the bench and give us a little bit of support. That would be our first need. Cartier Martin has done a good job for us. He’s come in and given us good minutes and we still have a position open that we can add a player to. I’m waiting to see how coach gives us feedback on what he wants to do with Cartier Martin for the rest of the season. I would say as of right now, that’s our focus.
(On if the open roster spot will remain open until after the trade deadline to provide some flexibility)
Pretty much, yes. Unless something comes up. Injuries can always alter your thought process. Having that flexibility, you can always go out and get a guy who secures whatever your needs may be.
(On his feelings about Adam Morrison not working out in Charlotte)
It’s disappointing, but it’s a gamble. When you see a guy as a college player, you try to anticipate him making an impact on your team coming up to this level, and it doesn’t always work. We took a gamble when we took Adam Morrison. We looked at his stats and how he played the game in college and felt like he could fit in well. Since then we’ve made two coaching changes and our latter coaches felt like he could not fit in the structure of what we’re trying to do. Ultimately, decisions have to be made. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t work out for us, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t be successful with another team or later in his years in the pros. I hope he does well – he’s a good kid and a gym rat. For the betterment of what happens with this organization, we have to make tough decisions and that was one of them.
(On what he has learned from the experience of drafting Adam Morrison and Kwame Brown that he can take with him in the future)
Mistakes are going to be made. A lot of times things don’t pan out. D.J. Augustin is panning out. I thought Jared Dudley was a great draft pick. There are a lot of picks that other teams have made or we have made that just didn’t pan out. It’s a gamble sometimes no matter how much evaluation you do or how many scouting reports you have. Hindsight is 20-20. When Adam had his first year, he gave us some really good games and there was the prospect that he could be very successful. Then he got hurt and we went through a couple coaching changes and things didn’t pan out. You can’t foresee a lot of things in the draft – athleticism, passion, skills – you try to evaluate all that, but even then it’s not a pure science. Kwame Brown is a great example. If we don’t take Kwame Brown at No. 1, he’s going to go at No. 2. No matter how you look at it, everybody had him on their radar as being the top pick. We just so happened to be the top pick and we chose him. It didn’t pan out, so we take the brunt of that and understand that. That’s the risk that you take when you take a gamble on a high school kid or a kid who might not have been playing in one of the stronger conferences or a European player. Those are the risks you take, and you have to live by it. I live by me taking Adam Morrison, because I felt that coming out of college, Adam Morrison was a very good player and felt like if we put him in a scenario that best suited him it would better the organization. Even though it didn’t pan out, I think we’ve grown from it. I’ve grown from it, and hopefully down the road, when you make a choice, you try to make a better choice – the right, sound choice. But I don’t walk away from it. I’m going to make mistakes and people are going to point out those mistakes. Very rarely do people point out the successes of making a pick, and I understand that. That’s part of the game.
(On his take on the future of Sean May with the Bobcats)
Larry presented a challenge to Sean, and Sean has made some ground on that challenge. He got the opportunity to play and is going to continue to improve, so hopefully he gets on the basketball court to show his value. I think the kid can still play. I think he knows how to play. When he was healthy for those 58 games in his first three years, he provided a lot of basketball skill. Trying to get him back healthy so he can produce that way has been the biggest issue. He’s working his way back, but the unfortunate thing is that a decision has to be made about Sean May right now. I wouldn’t make it as of right now because the kid is still working his way back. I know he is capable of being able to play. I think he has potential and is a low risk. I think teams understand that, but in terms of what we get back from what they might be offering for him shows that he has some value.
(After trade rumors in the summer how he thinks Gerald Wallace has grown under Coach Brown)
We never put Wallace out there. Wallace was being asked about by other teams. When we talked about changing the face, we never spoke about players, we just talked about changing the face of the organization. His name was thrown into a bunch of the deals, but as of right now, we’re invested in Wallace. We invested in him over the summer and he is an integral part of our success. I haven’t backed away from that investment. Obviously, when teams come to us and speak of guys – not that we initiate it – we’re always going to listen. That’s basketball. That’s the business. As of this moment, I’m not looking to trade Gerald Wallace or anybody else on our roster, but we’re always willing to sit here and listen.
(On how much Boris Diaw changed the team when he was traded to Charlotte)
A lot. He’s been that bond for our team that allows us to distribute the ball and gives us the versatility with the guy who can shoot the three, post up, take the ball off the boards and start a break, is great with passing, can penetrate and pass, and he allows D.J. and Raymond to get on the wings and be more of an offensive threat. Most of the time he is going to have an advantage over whoever is guarding him, so I think he gives us that versatility. To me and to Larry, that is important in this era. The more versatile your team can be, the more weapons you can have. I think Diaw provides us with that. I think Radmanovic is going to provide us with that versatility – maybe not to the same magnitude as Diaw, but I think he can take the ball off the boards, penetrate, pass, handle the ball and shoot the three. To me, that connects a lot of dots on our team.
(On if he is concerned that the Bobcats will use up their cap space two years out with moves being made)
I’m always concerned about it, but we still have some flexibility and some tough decisions we have to make. Everybody is looking at 2010 as the year to dive into free agency, but it’s all predicated on how the Collective Bargaining Agreement is going to allow stars on teams to move. I don’t believe stars are going to be moving as rapidly or as often as people might think. That’s my opinion. We’re dealing with the core of what we have on our team. When you look at our roster, we have some core players that are going to last until that season, and we have some decisions to be made in the summer with players who have options coming up. I’d like to maintain flexibility going into the 2010 season, but if we’re playing solid basketball and it looks like we’re moving in the right direction, I might just want to ride this thing out and see where we go. How often do you see big, star players move? Have we built a franchise where we can attract an elite star? I think Larry Brown has a Hall of Fame background, and I’d like to think that the organization has shown, as well as with my input, that we’re moving in the right direction. At the end of the day, when you talk about players moving and losing money, that extra year or the annual increase in salary – that’s a decision to be made. When you talk about trying to make up that lost money, I don’t know if we have the corporate structure where a star player can make that money up in endorsements. I’m trying to be realistic in the sense of what happens if we can’t attract a superstar? We have to build a good team that can contend, and if we’re able somewhere down the road to see that the trend is changing, then you have to build yourself accordingly.
(On how much Bobcats Owner Bob Johnson is willing to let him spend on the roster)
At the beginning of the season, Bob gives me a budget based on the business of the Bobcats. Within that budget, I try to operate moves to better the team but stay within my budget. If you balance your checkbook right, you can do it the right way, and that’s what we’ve been doing. At no point in time – I’m invested in this scenario too, and I don’t want to be around the luxury tax unless we’re deep into the playoffs. If you’re talking about us winning a championship by going over the luxury tax, I’m willing to do it. But as of right now, it doesn’t make any sense to go near the luxury tax. If I have to go outside the budget, I have to go, sit down and talk to Bob. When you go outside a budget, you have to figure out where the extra money is going to come from. Being that he is the Majority Owner, I have to go to him. I have to let him know that we may be able to get a player of substance that may go outside the budget and need to know if I have the authority to do so. He’ll say yes or no.
(On the team being better needing to coincide with a rise of community interest)
We’re talking about some tough economical times. I can’t sit here and while about the community buying extra tickets or building their lives around buying a ticket to come see the Bobcats. What we have to do is provide entertainment, and we do. We try to provide entertainment and hope that people come out and enjoy us in their free time. But to be upset at people who choose not to entertain themselves because of the economy – I can’t argue that point. We have to continue to try to draw them out there and the best way to do that is to make it more exciting so someone would want to come out and entertain themselves each and every night. That’s how I look at the fans – it’s their choice to come out and watch us or not. We still have to come out and provide the best entertainment that we can so we can draw the fans out to watch. But this is a very tough economical time, and seeing how the banking corporations are right here in our city, I would imagine that makes things even tougher. We have to be very sensitive to that. Yes, we would love to have a sold out arena every night, but we have to understand too that it’s a tough time.
(On how he thinks Larry Brown has done)
I think Larry has done a great job. He’s come in, he’s evaluated and tried to coach his style while trying to fit players into his style. We’ve had conversations constantly about certain players, and when he felt that certain players didn’t fit, we’ve tried to better the scenario. There have been situations where we didn’t agree, but there have been a lot of situations we did.
(On how often he and Larry discuss changes and how much input Larry has)
He could talk about it every single day. My position is to come to Larry and say, “Okay Larry, we have what we have and let’s try to work with it and in the meantime try to better the scenario.” He’s given out some good ideas. We have some good ideas. We try to merge our ideas to try and come up with something that is suitable for the franchise, and then we’ll do it. We talk quite often. Every time I talk to Larry, the first thing he asks me is “What else do I need to do?” We’re on the same page and willing to listen to each other and throw out opinions. In these deals that we have done, I think it has been a mutual understanding from both parties. Every concept that my team and I come up with, we go down to the coach and say, “How do you feel about this? Does this work within your coaching philosophy?” Then we try to figure things out to make deals work. I think that’s the relationship that we must have to try and continue to benefit this organization.
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